Why It Matters
In the U.S. workforce, only 1 in 6 workers has access to paid family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Roughly 2 in 5 workers report they lack access to any paid leave.
People with disabilities and their families often experience greater financial insecurity and are more likely to face barriers to employment that can render the financial impact of unpaid time off particularly devastating.
Paid leave increases opportunities to take time off for a serious medical condition without seeing a sharp drop in income or putting one’s job or employer-based health insurance at risk. In addition, it can increase access to preventive care, such as going to doctor’s appointments, and lead to better overall health and well-being. Access to paid family and medical leave can help workers balance their personal care needs while working and providing support to a family member.
Our workforce deserves protections that allow workers to care for themselves and their families while remaining secure and productive at their jobs.
What The Arc Is Doing
The Arc has cultivated several national partnerships to bring the issue of paid family and medical leave further into the public spotlight and advocate on the federal level.
New Report on Paid Family Leave and the Disability Angle
Disability Perspectives on Paid Leave: A Qualitative Analysis of Leave-taking Among Workers Affected by Disabilities or Serious Health Conditions includes ground-breaking research on how workers with disabilities and working caregivers of people with disabilities use, need, and benefit from paid family and medical leave. It is one of the only studies to specifically explore whether current paid and unpaid leave policies and programs meet the needs of the disability community. Findings offer key insights on how existing leave policies can become more disability-inclusive and highlight the need for a comprehensive national paid leave policy. Read the full report. This study was conducted in partnership with the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University and was released on February 4, 2019.
The Arc/Georgetown Paid Leave Paper
A first-of-its-kind report by The Arc and the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality looks at the need for paid leave among workers with disabilities and families that include a person with a disability. The findings highlight the need for a comprehensive, national paid family and medical leave program in the United States.
- Full Report PDF | Word
- Fact Sheet PDF | Word
- Stories on Paid Leave & Disability PDF | Word
- Webinar: Paid Family and Medical Leave: The Disability Angle
- MomsRising Radio, Breaking Through: The Arc talks about the paid leave report with MomsRising Executive Director and CEO, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner.
- National Academy of Social Insurance Webinar: Archive of “Designing Inclusive Paid Leave Policy,” a webinar featuring a presentation on our paid leave report.
- The Hill, “From family leave to inclusive paid leave — the importance of the disability lens”: The Arc and Georgetown’s Center on Poverty and Inequality on the 25th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Arc/University of Minnesota FINDS Paid Leave Briefs
The Arc and the Research and Training Center on Community Living at the University of Minnesota released two new data briefs looking at the work experiences and outcomes of families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and the need for paid leave policies. One brief focuses on the experiences of parents raising children with IDD, while a second brief focuses on the experiences of family caregivers of adults with IDD. These free resources can be used in research and advocacy efforts.
More Resources from The Arc
Tell Us Your Paid Leave Story!
The Arc is collecting stories that highlight the importance of paid leave to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. This includes paid medical leave (for a person to meet their own medical needs) and paid family leave (for a person to care for a family member, including to care for a child or an adult family member with a disability).
We are looking for stories both from people with IDD and from family caregivers.
The Importance of Paid Leave: A Sibling Perspective
When her mom ended up in the hospital with a life-threatening condition, Nayma faced something no one should have to: the choice between caring for family or a paycheck.
Read her story of trying to care for her brother and sister, who both have disabilities, and their mother, after the unexpected happened.
How You Can Help
There are many ways to advocate with and support The Arc’s grassroots movement.
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The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes.
